Unsteady from the start

In this blog I am going to talk about my abuse and how it affects my life now, but I want everyone to understand that how I am now is not shaped by only the abuse I suffered at the hand of Crawford. My young life was filled with ups and downs. I sometimes wonder if my earlier childhood or my emotional instabilities helped Crawford single me out as someone more easily victimized.

I was born to two 17-year old’s and while I don’t remember anything from that time period my mother has told me stories. Everything was not happy and stable. My father was jealous of the attention I received over him. He spent money at the video arcade, even if that meant us doing without. He pinched me when I sang. He didn’t care whether my mother was in the mood for sex or not.

My memories start around the age of 4. I knew who my biological father was, but Mom was remarried to another man. We called him Daddy Scott. I remember some of the arguments Scott and Mom would have. There was a lot of shoe throwing from my Mom and one time a threat of self-harm from Scott that was burned into my young memory. There are also dozens of good memories from that time. Watching Dr. Who, my little brother being born, playing games with other children, washing dishes, my first kiss, tying my own shoes, learning how to whistle and more.

I received my first kiss when I was 5 years old from another 5-year-old. It was a French kiss. We were hiding in a closet in my bedroom. We were laying down facing each other. We started smooching and then he stuck his tongue in my mouth. I asked him what he was doing. His response was, “Counting your teeth”. I look back and think now that someone must have been doing that to him; or else how would he have known?

I had discovered the joy of my own body parts by this time, and I remember masturbating a lot.

Mom and Scott’s relationship eventually broke apart and there was another divorce. I don’t know all the details or remember them. Scott got custody of my little brother, and Mom got my sister and myself. We went to live in a trailer behind my maternal grandfather’s house.

I have a lot of memories from that trailer even though we only lived there a short time. Mom started dating a woman. I don’t remember having any questions about it. I simply accepted like any child whose head has not been filled with preconceived notions about what society says should and should not be.

That woman was my first role model, and I wanted to be just like her. She taught me how to do hand stands. We dressed in jeans and t-shirts. I learned cart wheels. I tried to learn how to pee standing up, but that didn’t work out so well.

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I remember a little bit about the time I had my first mental breakdown. (Mental breakdown is a term I am using to describe a period of intense mental and emotional distress. I was unable to properly function in my day to day life.)

I’m unsure as to my exact age. We were kicked out of the trailer and my sister and I went to stay with my paternal Grandparents. I’m going to guess that I was around 8 years old. I remember crying uncontrollably and for seemingly no reason. I cried in school a lot. My teacher would tell me to go wash my face.

My mother has since told me that she took me to see the therapist she was seeing.  He told her that I needed to be back with her. My mother quit the tech school she had started so to better herself, got a job and got a government apartment so we could all go live together again.

Mom dated a woman when we lived in the government apartment. She had seizures, though some of them were faked. A man came into our apartment one day. A stranger and started beating the crap out of my mother’s partner. I still don’t know why, or who he was. I remember him storming in through the front door, hitting her with it as it swung open. If she hadn’t gotten to the bat we had in the pantry, he might have killed her. I ran to the neighbors yelling for them to call the police that a man was beating her up in our apartment.

Mom dated a man when we lived in the government apartment. He had a beautiful Doberman Pincer. We weren’t allowed to have pets, so I was supper excited when he brought him over. He was physically abusive to my Mom and to the dog. I watched him slam them both up against the wall at different times. I remember holding my mother around her chest as she screamed and cried hysterically, drool falling from her mouth. I know she wanted to speak to me, but nothing came out but screaming. I told her it was going to be okay. We were locked in the bathroom of our apartment. He proposed to her and put himself on our government apartment lease. He wouldn’t leave. It ended up that, while Mom never married him, she did have to get a divorce since Common Law Marriage was in affect at that time.

During our time in the apartment I “went with” a new boy every other week or so. I also got my first girl crush. I thought she was the sexiest thing ever. She lived in the apartment complex. There was another kid, a boy, that lived at the apartments complex. I switch back and forth “going with them,” like a yo-yo. I was their first kiss and yes, it was French kisses. We would hide anywhere we could for as long as we could.  Kissing was and still is my favorite thing to do. Toe curling, soft, moist, intimate, pleasure. I believe that if I had known how to go about having sex at that time, I would have gone all the way at 10 years old hiding in a fan fort in the back bedroom with either one of them. I had confidence, and I new I looked all that in my jeans and t-shirts.

Then came Crawford and my second mental breakdown.

Sister, Brother, Sister

Sister

My little sister, Wren, was born July 26th, 1983. I was 18 months old. There is not a time in my memories when she was not there. There are many pictures taken of us running around together. There are some embarrassing pictures with our cloth diapers falling off.

We were mistaken for twins all the time. I would grow an inch taller, but Wren would quickly catch up with me and is, in fact, taller than me now. We were usually dressed alike for special occasions and pictures. People even ask us now.

Brother

My little brother, Logan, was born June 7th, 1987. I was 5 years old. I wanted Mom to have a boy, but Wren wanted a baby girl. I was so excited, and I took my role as the oldest quite seriously. In my 5-year-old memory I took on a lot of responsibility. I remember changing diapers and rocking Logan to sleep all the time.

Sister

Crawford’s only child was a daughter named Issaqueena. She was born June 11th, 1973. The first time I meet her was when she came to babysit us. We still lived in the government apartments at that time so I must have been 9 or just turned 10. We ran out to greet her as she walked up from the parking lot. She was holding something in her arms, books maybe. The first thing I remember thinking was that she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The second thing I remember was that my country accent was so thick she couldn’t understand a single word that I was saying.

 

The Fairy Tale

My mother meet Crawford Thomas Sparks when I was about 10 years old. He was a well-dressed, well spoken, older gentleman. He seemed pleasant and helpful. He was there to help my mother with the business aspect of a gay support group she was running.

He started hanging out more and wiggling his way into our life.  He would babysit us when Mom went out. We found out quickly you did as you were told, or you got a spanking when he was on watch. This was a vast change considering Mom let us get away with pretty much anything.

I’m not sure when friendship changed over to relationship. Soon there was talk about marriage and moving out of our government apartment to live with him in the Honey House.

The house got its nick name because Crawford had many honeybee hives on the property. He collected their honey and packaged it in bottles labeled Issaqueena Honey. As far as I know no business was ever had from the honey. We ate it ourselves over time. The bees were sold not to long after we moved there.

The Honey House was a little run down, but he promised to fix it up. It was going to be castle like. Each girl would have their own tower where the top floor reached the tree tops. We would live there forever bringing our spouses home instead of moving out to live with them. Our family would blend together into the ideal family and be together forever.

My mother and Crawford were married April 15th, 1992 in the forest on the Honey House property under a dogwood tree. The only others in attendance was Logan, my little brother; Wren, my little sister; Issaqueena, Crawford’s only child and 9 years my senior, and a preacher. We all dressed up with flowers in our hair. The wedding vows were changed upon Mom and Crawford’s behest to not say “Until death due us part”, but instead to say “forever”.

Introduction

I wanted to do a small introduction of myself before I dive into the “hot and heavy”. My goal will be to write a new post every week. I will try to do more.

My name is Tanya. I was born January 19th, 1982. I am currently 37 years old. I work a 40+ hour job as a C.N.A. (Certified Nursing Assistant) in a local Skilled Nursing Facility. I am a mother of four children, some I birthed and some I didn’t.

I’ve always loved reading. My favorite books are horror, fantasy and science fiction. Some of my favorite authors include Clive Barker, Stephen King, Ann McCaffery, J.K. Rowling, Isaac Asimov, J.R.R Tolkien, Ann Rice, Douglas Adams, Stephanie Meyer, Cassandra Clare, Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Terry Brooks and many others I can’t remember.

During my time in the Honey House reading was my way to escape into another world. I didn’t have to think about my life if I was joining Frodo’s fellowship or learning about Asimov’s three laws of robotics. I still love reading. Sometimes it used for an escape and sometimes for pure pleasure.

I spend a lot of time watching movies and TV shows. My favorite genre is horror. I love Doctor Who, The Walking Dead and The Magicians. Most other shows I binge watch on Netflix.

I am an Agnostic. That means I believe that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond. I claim neither faith nor disbelief.

I am a Liberal. To me that means supporting civil rights, democracy, gender equality, racial equality, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. I believe people should be free to do what they want and be who they are if they aren’t harming anyone.

It took me years and years to finally gain a sliver of self confidence in myself. I can proudly say that I am a pretty cool human being.